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Dung beetles of Central Europe: Diversity and conservation
AMBROŽOVÁ, Lucie
The thesis consists of three conservation-oriented studies, mainly focusing on the factors determining dung beetle diversity in Central Europe. We assessed the role of routine ivermectin treatment on diversity and functional performance of dung beetle community. Alternative forest managements of coppicing and additional topsoil removal were evaluated in terms of their suitability for increasing diversity of dung-inhabiting dung and rove beetles. Further, we examined environmental and management-related factors driving dung beetle beta-diversity to facilitate conservation prioritization of Central European dung beetles.
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The importance of dung beetles for the renovation of the cattle pasture sward
JANOVSKÝ, Jindřich
This theses focuses on the importance of coprophagous beetles for dung decomposition and restoration of grass in the cattle pastures. Diversity of coprophagous beetles was measured using special traps in four cattle pastures at the family farm in western Bohemia. The measurement was provided 3 times in May 2014, August 2014 and September 2013 during one-week sampling periods. In total, 444 specimens of 22 species was collected. Caught species belonged to the family Scarabaeidae and Hydrophilidae. The beetles belonged to the functional group, " dwellers ". The greatest influence on the grass restoration have tunneling species. However, these were not caught on pastures. The highest abundance was detected in May with 379 species. In this period, there was significantly higher abundance of small and large non-tunneling kinds and of Hydrophilidae compared to September (P<0.05). Abundance of Scarabaeidae did not differ significantly (P>0.05) between August and September. The greatest significance for the functional decomposition of dung in a pasture can be expected due to a large Aphodius rufipes species which may be present in the feces in a large number at the end of summer.
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Examination of the diversity and digging activity of dung beetles in pasture
ANDĚL, Tomáš
The survey of the diversity of coprophagous beetles (Scarabaeidae, Geotrupidae, and Hydrophilidae families) and their soil activity took place at two sites in a cattle pasture in southern Bohemia (site A: 49°29'31.720"N, 14°23'44.310"E; site B: 49°29'23.257"N, 14°23'35.964"E; 575 m a. s. l.). Baited pitfall traps with fresh cow dung (1.5 l per trap) were used to capture the beetles. During the survey of the diversity of coprophagous beetle community, a total of 29 species of beetles numbering 1,189 specimens were captured from May to September 2013. Of these, the most numerous were the beetles of the genus Aphodius, who made up 79 % of the total number of captured specimens. In terms of biomass, Geotrupes spiniger (Marsham, 1802) was significant, in that it made up 24 % of the total biomass of all of the captured beetles. This species contributes most to the decomposition of dung in the pasture. The family with the least number of specimens was Hydrophilidae. Beetles from this family made up 19 % of total number. Measurement of soil activity took place repeatedly over the course of 3 weeks, always after one-week measurement of diversity. The most numerous species (A. fimetarius, A. rufus and A. fossor) showed a linear dependence of the abundances in soil-activity traps on the abundances in diversity traps from the precedent capture period. A. sticticus was one of the most numerous species during surveys of diversity (10 %). This species, belonging to the dwellers group, was not recorded in soil-activity traps, however. Large tunnellers were represented mainly by G. spiniger in traps, for which the linear dependence was not possible to confirm.
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Genetic variability of dung beetles on pastures.
VRBOVÁ, Kristýna
The aim of this thesis was a research of the genetic variability of 8 populations of the dung beetle Aphodius prodromus using allozyme markers. Following population-genetic analysis were used to determine genetic structure of these populations: estimates of heterozygosity, Wright´s F- statistics, estimates of gene flow, Mantel test, PCA, Nei´s genetic distance, testing of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and linkage disequilibrium. The results revealed low gene flow between populations, low number of heterozygotes and disequilibrium within and between populations. Cluster analyses showed, that populations from Tichá and Rychnov nad Malší-hřbitov are genetically most different from other populations.
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The influence of pasture on biodiversity of invertebrates in sub-mountain localities - coprophagous beetles
SVOBODA, Lukáš
The effect of the pasture management on dung beetle communities was studied on three sites in Šumava Mts. (South and West Bohemia). The intensity of pasturing was different: 78 cattle on the first, 106 on the second and 162 on the third pasture. The beetles were collected using pitfall traps baited by 1.5 litres of fresh cattle dung. The traps were located on each pasture. Altogether 3 traps were used per each pasture. The pitfall traps were exposed in the pasture for 7 days in monthly repetitions from April to October 2008. Totally 8725 specimen and 33 species of beetles were collected. These species belong to families Scarabaeidae,Geotrupidae and Hydrophilidae. The number of species and individuals was evaluated for each pasture, as well as seasonal dynamics and biomass distribution. The results indicate that the more intensive pasturing has the positive effect on the activity of some groups of coprophagous beetles.Other effects of the different pasture management on the beetles were not documented.
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